Month: September 2020

Coronavirus Economy: What We Know About The GOP Stimulus Package

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$600 unemployment checks are about to stop. Congressional Republicans have put forward a stimulus plan. We’ll dig into the details.

Guests

Claudia Sahm, director of macroeconomic policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. (@Claudia_Sahm)

Kenneth Rogoff, professor of economics and public policy at Harvard University. Co-author of “This Time Is Different.” (@krogoff)

Heather Caygle, Politico reporter covering Congress. (@heatherscope)

From The Reading List

Politico: “‘It’s a mess’: Republican senators deride key proposals in GOP virus package” — “he jockeying on Capitol Hill underscores how far apart both parties remain — and the treacherous path Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell faces as he confronts internal GOP divisions and kicks off negotiations with Democrats.”

Washington Post: “Coronavirus relief talks hit impasse on Capitol Hill” — “Negotiations on a new coronavirus relief bill hit an impasse on Capitol Hill on Wednesday,

… Read More

Analysis on Impact of COVID-19- Global Electrical Explosion Proof Equipment Market 2020-2024 | Evolving Opportunities with ABB Ltd. and Eaton Corporation Plc | Technavio

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LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The global electrical explosion proof equipment market size is expected to grow by USD 405.48 million as per Technavio. This marks a significant market growth compared to the 2019 growth estimates. Healthy growth is expected to continue throughout the forecast period, and the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4%. Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impacts

Read the 120-page report with TOC on “Electrical Explosion Proof Equipment Market Analysis Report by Type (Enclosures, Encapsulations, and Conduit and cable sales) and Geography (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA), and the Segment Forecasts, 2020-2024”.

https://www.technavio.com/report/electrical-explosion-proof-equipment-market-industry-analysis

The market is driven by the rising demand for safety in industrial operations. In addition, the emergence of safety regulations is anticipated to boost the growth of the electrical explosion proof equipment market.

Health, safety, and environment have become non-negotiable factors in the operation of industries. Industries

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U.S. GDP likely sank a record 35% in the 2nd quarter after coronavirus ravaged the economy

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ECONOMIC REPORT



a woman holding a sign: People walk by a closed business in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The U.S. economy is expected to show a record decline in growth in the second quarter due to the coronavirus.

© Getty Images
People walk by a closed business in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The U.S. economy is expected to show a record decline in growth in the second quarter due to the coronavirus.

The U.S. suffered the biggest economic decline in the second quarter since the government began keeping track after World War Two. How much? Try 30% — or more.

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Economists polled by MarketWatch estimate gross domestic product — the official scorecard for the U.S. economy — contracted by a record 34.6% annual pace from the start of April to the end of June.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the largest drop in GDP on record was 10% in 1958. The government’s quarterly GDP figures go back to 1947.

The steepest quarterly drop during the 2007-2009 Great Recession was 8.4%.

Here is what to watch in the second-quarter GDP report when published

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Banks join IBM’s financial services cloud as it doubles down on security, compliance

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Dive Brief:

  • More banks are signing up for IBM’s financial services cloud collaboration with Bank of America, including French international banking group BNP Paribas, IBM announced Wednesday. MUFG Bank, the largest bank in Japan, is also exploring the financial services cloud deployment, though it’s not publicly stating its timeline, Hillery Hunter, VP, CTO of IBM Cloud, told CIO Dive. 

  • IBM is forming a Financial Services Cloud Advisory Council to advance its cloud policy framework tailored to the highly regulated sector. It’s led by Howard Boville, SVP, IBM Cloud, the former Bank of America CTO who joined IBM in May. Tony Kerrison, CTO of Bank of America, will also serve on the council. 

  • To implement the financial services cloud, IBM now has more than 30 partners operating as Independent Software Vendors, adhering to the security and risk requirements for financial services.

Dive Insight:

IBM has “several” clients beyond publicly

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A Look At Hartford Financial Services Group’s (NYSE:HIG) CEO Remuneration

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Chris Swift has been the CEO of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) since 2014, and this article will examine the executive’s compensation with respect to the overall performance of the company. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for Hartford Financial Services Group.

See our latest analysis for Hartford Financial Services Group

How Does Total Compensation For Chris Swift Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

At the time of writing, our data shows that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$15b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$15m for the year to December 2019. That’s a modest increase of 4.9% on the prior year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at US$1.2m.

On comparing similar companies in

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With the economy tanking, more people seeking unclaimed cash

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida is seeing a surge in people making claims for unclaimed property since the coronavirus pandemic has shaken up the state’s economy, but apparently President Donald Trump hasn’t made an effort to have money returned to him.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in a telephone interview that the state is setting records for the amount of money being returned to people since the pandemic began.

“We pushed out over $38 million just in the month of March. That’s the second highest month in the history of the program,” Patronis said. “Just during the COVID-19 pandemic time, we’ve pushed out almost $124 million. That’s $124 million that’s going back into the economy. That’s money that’s not sitting in our accounts anymore.”

There are millions of accounts with unclaimed property. It could be a savings account someone forgot about, a car insurance refund, inheritances and more.

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About 7% of auto and personal loans are in financial hardship programs

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Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the total amount of credit products currently in hardship programs. 

Just over 7% of auto and personal loans are in some type of financial hardship program as of June, while 6.79% of mortgages and 3.57% of credit card accounts are in some kind of payment relief. 

That’s according to TransUnion, which defines financial hardship plans as a deferred payment, forbearance program, frozen account or frozen past due payment. But despite the high numbers, the number of accounts going into these types of payment relief programs is starting to level off, says Matt Komos, vice president of research and consulting at TransUnion.

“This pandemic is really like nothing we’ve ever seen,” Komos says, especially in regard to the rate at which the economy changed and unemployment exploded. Because of the widespread uncertainty, some consumers may have signed up for hardship programs quickly, almost

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Do’s and don’ts of repaying your personal loan early

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What you need to know before writing the final check to your personal loan. (iStock)

Personal loans are the fastest-growing type of consumer debt. They can be an effective way to consolidate other forms of debt or to pay for an unplanned expense, like pricey home improvements or a car repair.

In fact, more than 20 million consumers have a personal loan. If you’re among the ranks, you may be in a position to pay your personal loan off early, using the government stimulus check or money you’ve been saving by cutting back in other areas of your budget, such as fuel or entertainment.

Before you decide to pay off your loan amounts early, consider these do’s and don’ts when it comes to a personal loan.

Do be sure you can cover your monthly payments

Be sure your budget can cover essential expenses, like housing, utilities, and groceries.

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Congress Has Many Ways To Boost The Economy By Getting Cash Into People’s Pockets. Which One Is Best?

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As Congress scrambles to pass another COVID-19 relief bill, it must decide how best to put money into the hands of people who are suffering from the economic fallout of the pandemic. The three leading choices appear to be: extending enhanced federal unemployment benefits, expanding refundable tax credits, or another round of direct economic impact payments. A fourth idea, President Trump’s plan for a payroll tax holiday, appears dead. But which is best?

Unemployment benefits. In theory, continuing enhanced jobless benefits is a strong choice. It targets aid to those who need it most—people who lost their jobs. But in practice, distributing money through the unemployment system has problems.

The CARES Act included a temporary $600 per week boost

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Columbus utility giant American Electric Power funded dark money spending in HB 6 campaign

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CLOSE

American Electric Power maintains its headquarters in Downtown Columbus. (Photo: Fred Squillante/Columbus Dispatch)

A dark money group wholly funded by House Bill 6 beneficiary and Columbus utility giant American Electric Power contributed $350,000 toward the campaigns now at the center of a racketeering and bribery case that ensnared House Speaker Larry Householder, an investigation by The Dispatch finds.

Empowering Ohio’s Economy Inc., a nonprofit operated solely with AEP funds, gave $150,000 to Generation Now, another dark money group that received $60 million from FirstEnergy-related interests to ensure passage and survival of a $1 billion ratepayer bailout of a subsidiary’s pair of nuclear power plants.

Empowering Ohio also gave $200,000 to the Coalition for Opportunity & Growth, which is related to a similarly named political action committee that donated $1 million to the 2018 campaigns of Householder-favored Republican candidates to help ensure that he had their votes to become speaker.

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